Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Competitors

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is MRK or AMGN a better dividend stock?

Merck & Co., Inc. pays an annual dividend of $3.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Amgen pays an annual dividend of $9.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc. pays out 47.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amgen pays out 86.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Merck & Co., Inc. has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Amgen has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Merck & Co., Inc. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is MRK or AMGN more profitable?

Merck & Co., Inc. has a net margin of 27.27% compared to Amgen's net margin of 17.39%. Amgen's return on equity of 176.11% beat Merck & Co., Inc.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merck & Co., Inc.	27.27%	43.23%	17.11%
Amgen	17.39%	176.11%	12.39%

Which has more volatility & risk, MRK or AMGN?

Merck & Co., Inc. has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amgen has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor MRK or AMGN?

In the previous week, Merck & Co., Inc. had 16 more articles in the media than Amgen. MarketBeat recorded 80 mentions for Merck & Co., Inc. and 64 mentions for Amgen. Merck & Co., Inc.'s average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Amgen's score of 1.05 indicating that Merck & Co., Inc. is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Merck & Co., Inc.	69 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Amgen	47 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend MRK or AMGN?

Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus price target of $109.19, indicating a potential upside of 32.57%. Amgen has a consensus price target of $307.82, indicating a potential upside of 3.69%. Given Merck & Co., Inc.'s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Merck & Co., Inc. is more favorable than Amgen.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merck & Co., Inc.	1 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Amgen	2 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.35

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, MRK or AMGN?

Merck & Co., Inc. has higher revenue and earnings than Amgen. Merck & Co., Inc. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Amgen, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merck & Co., Inc.	$64.17B	3.22	$17.12B	$6.87	11.99
Amgen	$33.42B	4.78	$4.09B	$10.96	27.08

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MRK or AMGN?

76.1% of Merck & Co., Inc. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.5% of Amgen shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Merck & Co., Inc. shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Amgen shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Merck & Co., Inc. beats Amgen on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.